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September 2017 Norfolk Rent Report

Welcome to the September 2017 Norfolk Rent Report. In this report, we'll evaluate trends in the Norfolk rental market, including comparisons to similar cities nationwide.

Norfolk rents increased marginally over the past month

Norfolk rents have increased 0.1% over the past month, and are up moderately by 2.2% in comparison to the same time last year. Currently, median rents in Norfolk stand at $800 for a one-bedroom apartment and $960 for a two-bedroom. This is the ninth straight month that the city has seen rent increases after a decline in November of last year. Norfolk's year-over-year rent growth leads the state average of 1.6%, but trails the national average of 3.0%.

Norfolk rents more affordable than many large cities nationwide

Rent growth in Norfolk has been relatively stable over the past year - some other large cities have seen more substantial increases. Norfolk is still more affordable than most large cities across the country.

Other cities across the state have seen rents increase, with Virginia as a whole logging rent growth of 1.6% over the past year.

Norfolk's median two-bedroom rent of $960 is below the national average of $1,160. Nationwide, rents have grown by 3.0% over the past year compared to the 2.2% rise in Norfolk.

While rents in Norfolk remained moderately stable this year, similar cities saw increases, including Seattle (+5.4%), Phoenix (+4.9%), and Denver (+3.0%); note that median 2BR rents in these cities go for $1,710, $1,020, and $1,350 respectively.

Renters will find more reasonable prices in Norfolk than most large cities. For example, San Francisco has a median 2BR rent of $3,070, which is more than three times the price in Norfolk.

For more information check out our
national report.
You can also access our full data for cities and counties across the U.S. at
this link.

City

Median 1BR price

Median 2BR price

M/M price change

Y/Y price change

Virginia Beach

$1,070

$1,290

0.3%

2.6%

Norfolk

$800

$960

0.1%

2.2%

Newport News

$830

$1,000

0.2%

2.1%

Hampton

$860

$1,030

0.8%

2.2%

Portsmouth

$770

$930

-0.3%

3.3%

Williamsburg

$960

$1,150

-0.9%

-4.4%

Methodology - Recent Updates:

Data from private listing sites, including our own, tends to skew toward luxury apartments, which introduces sample bias when estimates are calculated directly from these listings. To address these limitations, we’ve recently made major updates to our methodology, which we believe have greatly improved the accuracy and reliability of our estimates.

Read more about our new methodology below, or see a more detailed post here.

Methodology:

Apartment List is committed to making our rent estimates the best and most accurate available. To do this, we start with reliable median rent statistics from the Census Bureau, then extrapolate them forward to the current month using a growth rate calculated from our listing data. In doing so, we use a same-unit analysis similar to Case-Shiller’s approach, comparing only units that are available across both time periods to provide an accurate picture of rent growth in cities across the country.

Our approach corrects for the sample bias inherent in other private sources, producing results that are much closer to statistics published by the Census Bureau and HUD. Our methodology also allows us to construct a picture of rent growth over an extended period of time, with estimates that are updated each month.

About Rent Reports:

Apartment List publishes monthly reports on rental trends for hundreds of cities across the U.S. We intend these reports to be a source of reliable information that help renters and policymakers make sound decisions, and we invest significant time and effort in gathering and analyzing rent data. Our work is covered regularly by journalists across the country.

We are continuously working to improve our methodology and data, with the goal of providing renters with the information that they need to make the best decisions.